Nicolas Winding Refn’s neo-noir Bangkok gorefest Only God Forgives has been dividing critics and audiences alike since it got booed by some of the less impressed guests at Cannes. With potent western tendencies, sly nods to surrealist cinema as far back as Un Chien Andalou, and oppressively-soundtracked dream sequences to make the most seasoned Twin Peaks aficionados cream themselves, it’s hard to ignore. Love it or hate it, there are a few lessons we can learn from this darkly violent acid dream.
US ex-pat Julian Thompson (Ryan Gosling) is smuggling drugs in and out of Bangkok from his boxing club when older brother Billy (Tom Burke) is killed by the father of the girl he raped and murdered. The act is overseen by Lieutenant Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), known to the local police as the Angel of Vengeance,…
A further insight into neon lit criminal underworlds and psychotic mothers…
A wide-reaching crime drama from the director and star of intimate relationship study Blue Valentine seems an unusual prospect on paper, but in practice the transition isn’t as big as you might expect. Bold and sweeping as The Place Beyond the Pines may be, it still revolves around family – it’s just a shame Derek Cianfrance tries to spoil his child a little too much.
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